"I came across this on the way out to Hoboken to play Maxwell's, and my manager, Geoff Travis, gave it to me as a gift and we put it on the CD player in the van. I was very touched by his gift - he'd thought to give me that record, I was very moved by that. I knew Nina Simone obviously, but I'd never heard her sing like this. It just turned my head - I'm not sure how it's influenced me as a songwriter or as a musician, but again, another album of just classic songs, one after the other, and so much attitude, so much fucking fire. I think, for me, her questions, her lyrics, were just fantastic - from 'Do I Move You?' all the way through. It was a real learning curve of growing up - there's a lot of wisdom in these songs and also a lot of diversity. The music's also pretty hard-hitting: a lot of groove in there, a lot of amazing rhythm. Just an unusual, really surprising record."

"With blues records, it's hard to know which song is on which album, but the era of Fleetwood Mac when they did 'Fighting For Madge' and 'The Green Manalishi With The Two-Pronged Crown' is the ultimate band. They were so tight: Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer, Peter Green - wow. This was unbelievable. The way they played together was something else - the original Fleetwood Mac, before the females got involved, that was the stuff. I'm glad for you that you like Rumours. [He turns deeply sarcastic]. I'm thrilled for you. It makes me happy. I've never been more happy. The very first tour with Nicks and Buckingham, we played a show with them in Wisconsin. After our show, we said: "Thanks for letting us play. Here are some shirts for you guys." And John McVie threw us out of the dressing room: "Are you calling my wife a cheap trick?" My manager and I wanted him to apologise to us. It had nothing to do with calling his wife a cheap trick. Give me a break. How drunk was he? Years later he apologised."